'For those seeking to understand debates among Muslim scholars on contemporary political and social issues, I could hardly think of a more profound study than this one. Few scholars have the depth and reach to accomplish what Zaman does here, which is nothing less than a socio-history of modern Islamic thought. [He] returns again and again to the formative debates of the late nineteenth century to discuss a wide range of issues. A tour de force.' John R. Bowen, Dunbar-Van Cleve Professor, Washington University, St Louis, and author of A New Anthropology of Islam